Advice for someone looking for a job?

[randy and ana 1]

keep on looking and you will hit at the end always pray . dont loose hope theres always light at the end of the tunnel also update or get a cpr for professional at red cross and anything that would be needed including the 7hr HIV get an idea what are the pre-requisite in getting a job(nursing )im in Respiratory care but they used to ask for my license and cpr and HIV when i applied for a job

[HannahP 119]

If an employer is genuinely interested they often offer the training. After all they would rather train you thier way then break you of someone else's bad habits. lol

I worked with several women who returned to nursing after taking 15-20 yrs off to raise kids. The hospital gave them a partner at work and we trained them on the job.

Volunteering is never a bad thing and you never know who you might meet. Network. Eventually you will wind up where you belong.

This is where I'm interested in how nurses who started years ago (esp. when there were still hospital-based programs) learned and were hired on. What you said about hospital training etc. IS how new grads are trained in hospitals these days. You basically learn how to be a nurse in the first six months or so of your first real nursing job, not in school. Your "partner" is a preceptor which works with you for anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on the acuity of the unit, usually. There's been such a de-emphasis on clinical skills in a lot of nursing schools and a bigger emphasis placed on theory that you have to get trained on the unit.

[Onggoy Diyos 8]

Hi guys,

I just recently got my EAD/AP and will be having my interview for AOS early Feb. I have been applying for jobs in the SoCal area (Long Beach and surrounding areas) looking for a job as a nurse. I'm not picky, although I haven't had a call back. The only experience I have is a 3 month training in hemodialysis back home (which I really enjoyed). Do you guys have any advice on what else can I do? I've applied for a residency near home (Lakewood) and I'm really hoping to get into it, although I know there are a lot of people trying to get into that job. So, for people who are starting their healthcare careers here in the US, do you guys have advice? My husband and I have a lot of dreams, and we can't wait to get started on it.

What is an EAD/AP? AOS?

[david'sgirl 134]

This is where I'm interested in how nurses who started years ago (esp. when there were still hospital-based programs) learned and were hired on. What you said about hospital training etc. IS how new grads are trained in hospitals these days. You basically learn how to be a nurse in the first six months or so of your first real nursing job, not in school. Your "partner" is a preceptor which works with you for anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on the acuity of the unit, usually. There's been such a de-emphasis on clinical skills in a lot of nursing schools and a bigger emphasis placed on theory that you have to get trained on the unit.

I was a candy striper when I trained to be a nurse's aide, a nurse's aid when I trained to be an LPN, an LPN when I trained to be an RN and then as a GN (grad nurse)I had a preceptor. Because I worked my way through I had the advantage of learning on the job. It is too bad that schools moved away from the clinical aspect. It seems the focus is now on the degree more than the nursing skills. I've worked with some excellent hospital trained nurses without a degree and some really stupid MSN nurses who could not even figure which way to place a fracture pan, insert a foley cath or which direction in the vein the IV needle should go. Unfortunately there is no one standard for training after you graduate. It is up to your employer. I think the preceptor/partner model is the best way to learn. You can read about how to do something forever but until you actually do it and are critiqued on it you will not really know how to do it. Nurse's are trained to assess patients but until you actually listen to breath sounds or heart arrythmias or see an infected post op wound it is just words on a page. I have found that once co workers and physicians know that you are keen to learn they will seek you out to provide you with opportunities to gain skills. When I was a new nurse I mentioned to a doc that I was nervous about using the staple remover. he assigned me a guy who had bilateral fem-pop bypass grafts with ankle to groin staple lines. He took out a couple of staples, handed me the remover and some steri strips and told me to do the rest. By the time I finished I was no longer nervous and actually quite good at it. Hopefully if the OP mentions that she is a bit rusty she will get a job with a mentor. When I was a supervisor I had so much more respect for a nurse who admitted they needed some help than the ones who thought they new everything. There is nothing scarier than a know it all nurse because those are the ones who will make a huge error and hurt someone rather than ask for help.

[hope.andsun 7]

What is an EAD/AP? AOS?

EAD = Employment Authorization Document

AP = Advance Parole

AOS= Adjustment of Status

What I was trying to say was that my papers finally pulled through and my authorization to work was approved, and now I'm looking for a job.

[hope.andsun 7]

I was a candy striper when I trained to be a nurse's aide, a nurse's aid when I trained to be an LPN, an LPN when I trained to be an RN and then as a GN (grad nurse)I had a preceptor. Because I worked my way through I had the advantage of learning on the job. It is too bad that schools moved away from the clinical aspect. It seems the focus is now on the degree more than the nursing skills. I've worked with some excellent hospital trained nurses without a degree and some really stupid MSN nurses who could not even figure which way to place a fracture pan, insert a foley cath or which direction in the vein the IV needle should go. Unfortunately there is no one standard for training after you graduate. It is up to your employer. I think the preceptor/partner model is the best way to learn. You can read about how to do something forever but until you actually do it and are critiqued on it you will not really know how to do it. Nurse's are trained to assess patients but until you actually listen to breath sounds or heart arrythmias or see an infected post op wound it is just words on a page. I have found that once co workers and physicians know that you are keen to learn they will seek you out to provide you with opportunities to gain skills. When I was a new nurse I mentioned to a doc that I was nervous about using the staple remover. he assigned me a guy who had bilateral fem-pop bypass grafts with ankle to groin staple lines. He took out a couple of staples, handed me the remover and some steri strips and told me to do the rest. By the time I finished I was no longer nervous and actually quite good at it. Hopefully if the OP mentions that she is a bit rusty she will get a job with a mentor. When I was a supervisor I had so much more respect for a nurse who admitted they needed some help than the ones who thought they new everything. There is nothing scarier than a know it all nurse because those are the ones who will make a huge error and hurt someone rather than ask for help.

That's true.. When I was a student, what I actually learned in the classroom was quite different clinically. My last exposure, like I said, was last 2010.. And the only thing I can do is touch up on my studies, which means theory, which means, I have to get used to being in a clinical area again. I never had the luck to really practice what I learned, so that's why I'm going in here, asking for advices, and I think the most important reason why I asked here is just to keep on going and keep on trying and not to give up.

[david'sgirl 134]

That's true.. When I was a student, what I actually learned in the classroom was quite different clinically. My last exposure, like I said, was last 2010.. And the only thing I can do is touch up on my studies, which means theory, which means, I have to get used to being in a clinical area again. I never had the luck to really practice what I learned, so that's why I'm going in here, asking for advices, and I think the most important reason why I asked here is just to keep on going and keep on trying and not to give up.

You might try temp agencies as well but I would wait until after you find a place willing to provide a clinical refresher or a preceptor. No reason to give up.